B4 Question #3
We just had a good discussion on the topic of free-will vs. determinism. Are we always FULLY accountable for ALL of our decisions? Or are their circumstances or instances where there are factors beyond our control that lessen our accountability? Please explain
posted by Mr. Fong | 11:11 AM
22 Comments:
I believe that we do have the freedom to choose, and we are totally responsible for those choices. We are responsible for any consequence that may come from our choice. Sometimes there may be some factors that are beyond our control, but that is part of the uncontrollable consequences that come from the choices we make.
I beleieve that there are things that drive us to do the things we do. if there wasnt and we always had free will then there would not be addicts in our world. its like we choose to do the right because "god told us so" isnt that driving us to make good choices. i think everyone has free will to a point but there are things driving us to do what we do. but, it is never beyond control.
-Ciera Garrett
-B2
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I slightly disagree with Gregg. It is true, most of the time we have free will, but there are really things beyond our control that can have a VERY strong influence on our decisions. If somebody kidnapped your family and wants you to pay 1,000,000$ do you really have free will? Of course you could say that there is still a "choice", but the decision will be so strong influenced, that, in my opinion, you can't speak of totally free will anymore. Anyways, it is a very difficult issue that will always cause controversies. I think we have free will most of the time, but for some particular actions and choices we are not fully responsible. But that is just MY opinion and everybody with a different point of view is welcome to discuss it here! I always accept other opinions besides my own. peace out and make good choices! :D
To an extent we do have free will. We are fully aware our actions and what were doing. Ever since we were little we've been taught right from wrong, however on the other hand there are circumstances in which we don't have free will. Using the example of schizophrenic person. I don't think they are fully responsible for their actions, they believe and hear things that aren't real because they have a mental disorder that causes them to act in ways that they wouldn't if they didn't have that disorder. But i think if you are healthy and have no mental disorder than yes you are accountable for the things you do.
I think you are responsible for what you do up to a point. I believe that people with disabilities have this excuse. But I believe that no one can make you do anything. I think that you have control over your body and your feelings.
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free will all the way its nobody has already decided that im going to put a whoppie cushion on mr fongs chair on thursday. its my choice
sure we are sometimes naturally talented at some things which could have us end up in a career with similar talents.and so what some things just fall into place... pfft whatever! determinismists take the fun out of everything.
I belive that were always fully accountable for our decisions no matter what the scenario is. Yes I belive there's by factors beyond our control and there's always going to consequences whether there good or bad, but in the end they happened because of the choice we made.
I'd say there are factors that can make our choices out of our control. Like being held at gun point. But at the same time we CHOSE to take action on whatever this gun man is making us do we ARE choosing to take that action or die basically. So we are still choosing, but our free will is limited.
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I believe you have more free will then you are being forced to do something. Obviously, if something super extreme were to happen that would cause you not to have a good choice in options, that may make it harder to choose. But, in all reality, you have full capability to choose what you really do.
i believe that some things we do can be affected by the enviornment we are raised in, but i mostly side with the free will side of things, because we can all overcome what our enviornment influences us to do.
The only thing that can physically stop us or make us do something is force and matter, so as long as your not being over powered by physical force you are able to do whatever you will. We have the freedom to choose and there is proof in the declaration of independence. so if we have the freedom and we have the ability to sit or stand we have free will to choose either one.. that is what makes us human.
Determination all the way baby. Ok so we all do have free will, but the things that happen around us determine how we are going to act. There have been so many experiences in my life that most teenagers should never have to experience, and they have made me who I am today. You can decide to learn from them and grow, or to let them hold you back but either way they are what effects your actions. I cannot believe that everything we do, we have full control over and decide, there's a bigger force acting upon us, these forces Determine our actions.
I think that we have free will to choose what we will do. Sometimes it's the first choice that determines what happens. It's easier to blame our consequences of what happened to us,and say that it was not our choice, but that the things around us determined it. I also think that we all have free will, but the bad choices we make, makes it so we lose our free will.
Do we have free will? Yes. Are there factors can can lessen this free will? Yes. Addiction comes to mind; although it does not eliminate free will, it does reduce it to the point of near nothingness, and it can take who knows how long to nurture that free will and revive it to the point that said addictive behavior can be controlled. Are we fully responsible for our actions? Yes. However, such accountability is often far, FAR more complicated than we can understand. Say I kill a person. Do i deserve to be punished for that? Assuming you said yes, well, what if that person was trying to kill me? Or my daughter? What if I had a tumor affecting me? Etc. So, while we do have accountability, the extent thereof is a concept so vague that perhaps only God knows the exact truth of it.
In response to some of the previous posts, I'd say i agree with the force and matter clause; Obviously, if something is physically impossible, you can't choose to do it. Also, there was an interesting point made about mental disorders, which I would say sometimes even limit the ability of someone to make a choice that they would be held at all accountable for.
I believe that we do have control over all that we do, but I also recognize that we are all human and all make mistakes (except for Buddha of course) and so we should cut a reasonable amount of slack for each other.
i belive that we all start out with free will but though our choices we lessen that, like addiction and habits and such. kind of like the story you told with the circle and you cant really leave the circle as easily each time. You can regain your free will though actions though but you are the one responcible for your actions as far as your knowledge is conserned but if you got killed by a merior and missed an apiontment and you didn't know you were standing were it was going to stike it wouldn't be your fault.
And our abilities like what swordsman siad
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